EMERGING TRENDS & ISSUES IN IT 2007[power-point presentation ]
This talk was attended by a large number of students of ITS, Ghaziabad from all its campuses.
Slide - 1 : Title; self-explanatory.
Slide – 2 : India’s beginning in Electronics and its applications was good compared to many other countries in the world at that time. Those interested may look at the details. It is good for the youth to know the beginnings. Those who are not able to access information can ask me.
In particular, I would like the readers (clickers !) to tell me what they know about TIFRAC (it is not TIFAC !). Those who are curious to know ask me. (In the interactive keynote, I asked the question. Only one person around my age knew !).
Slide –3 : Again fast history of 70’s, 80’s & 90’s.
Slide – 4 : World wide Tech. Scenario is such that ICT will be in every walk of life as if “EMBEDDED – INTO – LIFE†far too many to list. Good for those who will be entrepreneurs or employees to list them … focus on them if you want to specialise [ Go to Slides p.2 ].
Slide – 5 : While the current IT industry has done remarkably be it TCS, WIPRO, Infosys and others; the greatest weakness of IT sector as a whole is that almost around the entire market is dependant on the developed countries (i.e. export by us). How much percentage. You find out – I ask these questions to the audience and they answer …. Also most of the hardware is imported and bulk of the software is under license as we depend on others software.
(I again repeat that what has been achieved by our IT companies is remarkable especially because they had to grow at the oppressive eighties of license and permit. They had the tenacity and a vision amid these difficulties and achieve. In the process created a hope in Indian economic growth. What I am emphasising is that IT can spread much more grow 100 times more.)
These weakness need to be rectified for long term sustained growth of IT. Otherwise it could saturate.
Slide – 6 : How to spread IT to India so that the market base becomes really large and wide. Don’t go far foreign generated slogans like one – child – one – computer, village full of computers etc. These types of models, pilots etc can be shown with huge foreign or Govt. funding for SHOW (as unfortunately is happening in some parts of India). Some from Re.1 to 10 crores in such projects per village. Every thing looks hunky dory for high level demonstration. Everybody applaud saying how modern ICT, IT can transform rural areas in a Knowledge Centre or Society etc.
What next ? Physical inputs required for better productivity or diversified economic life cannot move through IT cables ? or computer screens. Even medicines cannot move ! Then every body disappears. Many reports, books, coffee table volumes appear about IT revolution in rural India. 600,000 villages remain the same.
My appeal to the IT entrepreneurs is not for such show cases, often pulled out of tax payer money or international philanthropy.
But IT application should reach them at an affordable costs. Most families in rural areas survive on an yearly income of about Rs.25,000. They have to manage their lives, agricultural or poultry inputs etc within this amount. Their ability to find surpluses is limited. That is where the challenges lie. Innovations can be through minimising hardware capabilities, simple softwares and novelties in community utilisation…..
Slide – 7 & 8 : Explain the Indian realities. The IT impact is only around D, E regions of Slide 7 or with rich Indians, big cities and towns as given in Slide – 8. [These two slides are often used – I don’t explain further – see other parts of the website or my papers ].
How to spread to 70% others who do not have the access to IT application.
Slide – 9: is very clear in its message.
Note : I am happy I got a lots of special thanks messages from students and faculty.
Y.S. Rajan